Sammy Hagar and Adam Levine Debut New Santo Mezquila Liquor

The spirits industry has been pretty good to Sammy Hagar over the years, and he's just added a new alcoholic venture to his portfolio — with an assist from Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.

USA Today reports that Hagar and Levine have teamed up to produce and market what the duo has dubbed the world's first mezquila — a blend of the agave-based liquors mezcal and tequila. As Hagar told the paper, they hatched the idea while discussing Hagar's initial plans to bring a premium mezcal to market.

While Hagar was enthusiastic about mining untapped demand for mezcal — a drink whose smoky character, as he puts it, makes you "feel like you smoked a cigar" after "three or four shots" — Levine preferred tequila. Hagar, having already made millions with his Cabo Wabo Tequila and skeptical of anyone's ability to muscle their way into a crowded market, knew they needed something different. They ended up blending the two spirits and meeting halfway. The result: Santo Mezquila.

"When we came up with that name — mezquila — the whole road opened up," Hagar recalled. "We know what we’re going to do. It's the first mezquila. We've invented a new product. ... It comes on like tequila and you smell a little bit of smoke in it, but is toned down to where you get a sweet finish. It’s taking tequila to another level. When you blend the two you get a higher spirit, a brand new taste."

Santo Mezquila joins Sammy's Beach Bar Rum on the Hagar-affiliated roster of currently sold spirits. It's Levine's first foray into the field; as he told USA Today, he'd had offers to endorse various brands before, but his friendship with Hagar — cemented during Hagar's stint as a mentor to Levine's team on the most recent season of The Voice — convinced him "there's no one better, aside from the fact we get along famously and instantaneously, to jump on board with than this guy."